More recently, the council have collected data on traffic levels on streets in the southern part of the QN and also in some streets outside it, eg the southern end of Warwick Road, Tewkesbury Terrace and Bounds Green Road (these have not yet been published). The data will be used as the baseline to establish how much the trial results in increased motorised traffic and whether or not the eased restrictions should be made permanent. The criteria for the assessment are described in the box below.
Assessment Criteria: Desirable Traffic Volumes
Desirable Traffic Thresholds
The aim of the Bowes QN project is to reduce the levels of motor traffic to improve the neighbourhood and encourage more sustainable forms of transport. It is therefore important to consider how the trial will be assessed against this objective. The following thresholds will be considered:
Threshold Criteria
- Target of less than 200 vehicles per hour during the busiest peak period on any given residential road within the QN area, AND/OR
- Target of less than 2,000 vehicles per day on any given residential road within the QN area
These thresholds align with industry guidance standards, such as:
- Department for Transport, Manual for Streets (2007)
- London Cycling Design Standards, Transport For London (2014)
- Healthy Streets Indicators, Transport for London (2017)
- Department for Transport, Cycle infrastructure design (2020)
These standards reflect best practice for maintaining residential street environments that are safe, accessible, and compatible with active travel. If motor vehicle levels remain below these thresholds, then the additional residential permits would not be seen to jeopardise the original project aims and objectives. Where volumes exceed these thresholds, further consideration on the impact of the trial would be required.
Source: Project Monitoring Plan
Better Streets for Enfield: "This is an area where 45 per cent of households do not own a car"
Before the introduction of the LTN, crossing this junction on foot was not a pleasant experience. Better Streets campaigners fear that the trial allowing residents to drive through the filter will again put pedestrians on the back foot - and this in an area where 45 per cent of households do not own a car
A statement sent to PGC by the campaign group Better Streets for Enfield reads:
“We disagreed with the need for this trial, because we fear that giving motorists special driving privileges will merely incentivise car usage, increase congestion and partially undo the improvements in the safety of other road users that the Quieter Neighbourhood was designed to provide, and has provided.
"Given that the trial is going ahead, we welcome the statement by Cllr Ozaydin that the outcomes of any changes must be consistent with the aims of the QN. Clearly, there is a challenge regarding the key road (Warwick Road), where its daily traffic levels already exceed the monitoring plan’s threshold of 2,000 vehicles per day. For a successful outcome, those figures will need to reduce – but it is not clear how the trial will deliver this.
"Another concern for us is that the trial might see hundreds of extra vehicle movements through the junction of Maidstone and Warwick Roads, which has been reconfigured with the specific purpose of making it more attractive and much more user-friendly and safe for pedestrians and cyclists."
Referring to complaints made by the petitioners, reported by Enfield Dispatch, about the "appalling lack of communication" from the council, Better Streets commented:
"We agree with the petitioners that the council should have done more to keep people in the loop, but we do not think that communications should be focussed on the sub-set of residents who signed the petition. After all, this is an area where 45 per cent of households do not own a car. There are still many residents unaware that a trial is about to take place, potentially bringing additional traffic and danger to their streets, so a letter distributed to all households within the trial zone is what is needed.”
Links
Bowes Quieter Neighbourhood page on the Let's Talk Enfield website
Project trial data (traffic counts)
Council confirms trial of big change to Bowes Park LTN (Enfield Dispatch 28 July 2025)
A BSfE view on the "Demand for Access" petition (Bowes LTN) (Better Streets for Enfield website, 11 March 2025)
